MetaDimension

A complete description of a business object or concept.
Together with their relationships, MetaDimensions and MetaFigures form a MetaStar and can be used in several MetaStars.
You select the MetaDimensions to be printed later in the form, or the MetaDimensions that affect the restriction of data to be printed.

The
description of a MetaDimension consists of several items of information, the
MetaFields
. Each MetaField is part of the key
that provides a complete technical
specification of the MetaDimension, or the MetaField is an attribute
, a further characteristic of the
MetaDimension.

The PAY_RESULT MetaStar contains the wage type MetaDimension.
The key belongs to the wage type (for example, one part of the key is /101 and the other part of the key is country indicator 01 for Germany).
The long text and short text attributes belong to the wage type.
Furthermore, the amount and number MetaFigures belong to the PAY_RESULT MetaStar.
Every MetaDimension has attributes.

The attributes of the employee MetaDimension include first name, last name, and date of birth.
The distinction between a key and an attribute is of a business and technical nature:
· Using the Forms Workplace, you can restrict the values of keys in an InfoStar and therefore reduce the amount of data that is transferred to SAP Smart Forms. A MetaField that is suitable, from a business perspective, for such restrictions (such as the evaluation classes of wage types) must therefore be included in the MetaDimension key.
· The MetaDimension key must contain all of the MetaFields that are required, for technical reasons, to uniquely identify attributes in the R/3 System. For example, the wage type (WAGETYPE) MetaDimension key contains the wage type (WAGETYPE) MetaField and, in addition, the country grouping (COUNTRY) MetaField. Both fields are needed for reading wage type texts in the R/3 System.
A
MetaDimension is represented by the
icon
in the node of a MetaStar within the overview tree of the MetaNet. Every
MetaDimension has MetaFields, and therefore keys
and
attributes
.
The
Show details
function also enables you to
display an overview of MetaFields with their keys and attributes for a
MetaDimension.
The
PAYMENTS MetaStar
includes the following
MetaDimensions:
·
BANK_ACCOUNT
The MetaDimension includes information on the account number, bank number, and name of the financial institution.
·
EMPLOYEE
The MetaDimension includes information on the name, personnel number, and address.
·
IN-PERIOD
The MetaDimension includes information on the start date, end date, payment date, and period.
·
WAGE TYPE
The MetaDimension includes information on the country grouping, wage type, and long text.